


Dean Winchester Hates Christmas

by jhoom



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Christmas fic, Fluff, M/M, SPN Holiday Mixtape, a few other characters briefly appear i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 23:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8868109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jhoom/pseuds/jhoom
Summary: Castiel is adjusting to becoming human, trying to learn the ins and outs of humanity as best he can.  He has a lot of favorite things — food, sleep, and now, holidays.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my story for the [SPN Holiday Mixtape](http://holidaymixtape.tumblr.com). My fic is based on the carol ["O Christmas Tree"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_3ngTHs6gA).
> 
> Come visit me on [tumblr](http://jhoomwrites.tumblr.com) ;)

When Castiel becomes human, he throws himself full-heartedly into it.  Humanity has so much to offer, and he’s only ever been able to experience the periphery of it before.  Now without his grace to mute his senses, he’s thrilled to experience as much as he can.

There are the obvious things, of course.  Food.  Sam and Dean enthusiastically share their culinary expertise with him, though he wonders if their palettes are not quite the same as his own.  He enjoys Dean’s pies and burgers, but not fried chicken.  And Sam’s salads are quite tasty, especially when he adds things like almonds or slices of mandarin oranges, but Cas isn’t so sure about this quinoa business.  

Sleep is another.  At first he balks at the necessity of being inactive for hours at a time, but soon he learns that nothing beats pleasant dreams and waking up fully rested.  Sleep deprivation, normally caused by the unpleasant business of a hunt or long drive (and occasionally by something gratifying like a movie marathon), is something he has yet to adapt to.

Surprisingly, he finds he enjoys clothes too.  There are so many different materials and patterns and colors…  The fits and the various ways to arrange them.  It’s all rather complicated, to be sure, and he normally follows the Winchester pattern of fitted tee with layers of plaid and denim to keep him warm.  But even with that narrow range, he finds there are a multitude of ways to express himself.  Having such freedom, such  _ individuality _ , is so unlike anything he did as an angel that he takes great joy in picking out an outfit each morning.

He learns that he enjoys the simple pleasures as well, such as falling asleep on freshly clean sheets or relaxing in a bubble bath or enjoying a nice warm cup of tea.  Things that would have been mere details before, small little notes in a long line of other irrelevant information, catalogued and then ignored.  Yet now he finds them to be integral to his daily life.

And now that summer is fading into fall, Castiel finds a new way to integrate himself into his newfound humanity.

Holidays.

Holidays are a cultural phenomenon he has not previously had the opportunity to participate in.  As a human, obviously.  He was present for several of the events that started or inspired many of the modern holidays now celebrated globally.  The birth of Jesus.  The death of Saint Valentine.  The landing of the Mayflower.  But that was always as a watchful angelic presence.  Now is his chance to actively  _ participate _ .

Halloween is the first to come.  He has fun getting Sam and Dean to dress up with him.  Sam is very supportive and helps him pick out the costumes — they attend a local bar as a mariachi band — while Dean scoffs at the whole thing.  Sam tells Cas not to worry, though.  Dean may whine and dig his toes in, but he wouldn’t wear the costume if he weren’t secretly happy about it.  

They spend the evening pretending to know how to sing and play their fake instruments, drinking and having a good time.

(He even attends a mass for All Saint’s Day, but he keeps that to himself.  As understanding as Sam and Dean try to be, he doesn’t feel he can adequately express to them his curiosity both about church services and the connection to God one’s supposed to feel at them.  Alas, he does feel more connected to the congregation, but his Father remains ever elusive.)

Thanksgiving is equally successful.  Not simply because it’s his first time celebrating it or because the food is delicious; he finds it immensely pleasurable to spend time with the people he cares for most.  The three of them cook a turkey and follow Dean’s instructions on everything else.  Most of the recipes were passed on to him by Jody, but a few are Dean’s own creations.  Particularly the pumpkin pie with the delectable, flaky crust.  

After dinner, they drink beer and watch whatever football game is on.  Castiel feels even further initiated into the holiday when he angrily shouts at the home team for fumbling the ball.  Dean pats him on the back while Sam nods in approval.  

Perhaps he’s set his expectations too high, but it’s no surprise that when Christmas starts to approach, he’s filled with anticipation.  The next time he drives into town to pick up supplies, he spends an hour in the holiday section picking out decorations.  Mistletoe, wreaths, nutcrackers, even an advent calendar with little chocolates behind each door.  He almost buys a large inflatable Santa Claus, but reasons that they have no real yard to put it in.  

Castiel spends his day hanging it all up throughout the bunker.  He even takes the time to tape candy canes to Sam and Dean’s bedroom doors.  When he slips into bed that night, his heart swells because he can’t  _ wait _ to see how Sam and Dean react.

Poorly, is apparently the answer.

As Castiel emerges from his room, the first thing he notices is the lack of candy canes.  Not a huge concern, it’s likely that the brothers decided to eat them.  But as he passes through each room, he finds no trace of any of his decorations.  It’s as though he dreamed it all up.  Only when he investigates the trash and finds it all crammed into bags does he realize what’s happened.

It’s not hard to figure out who the culprit is.

The first chance he gets, Castiel corners Sam in the library.  Sam raises his eyebrows and waits for the former angel to speak.  

“Sam, can I ask you something about Dean?”

“Shoot.”

“Why does he hate Christmas?”

“Uhhh…”  The taller man takes a moment to visibly collect himself.  “Okay, sorry.  Not the conversation I was expecting to have.”  Castiel briefly wonders what he  _ did _ think their conversation would be about, given that all he had to go on was Castiel seeking him out alone and inquiring about Dean.  

That train of thought is interrupted as Sam continues.  “Dean’s not a huge fan on account of all the shitty Christmases we’ve had since like… forever?  As kids and even as adults, actually.  They’ve all kinda sucked.  We were almost killed by some pagan gods on Christmas a few years back, so he’s probably lost the taste for it.”

That makes sense, except for one obvious problem.  “But you don’t seem to hate it.”

Sam shrugs.  “I dunno man.  We had a pretty shitty childhood in general.  I don’t see the point in being upset about this one little aspect of it.  Besides, I kinda like the songs they play at stores.  Kinda cheerful and uplifting.”

He supposes that makes sense.  Sam is the more easygoing and forgiving of the brothers.  It’s not unlikely that he’d be better able to put the past behind him while Dean would continue to hold a grudge on the holiday.  

The more he thinks about it, though, the more upset Castiel becomes.  There is, of course, nothing he can do to erase the damaging effects of their upbringing or to erase their bad experiences.  What he  _ can _ do is make sure they have good experiences moving forward.

Determination flares up inside him as he makes it his singular mission to give Dean his first real,  _ good _ Christmas.

He plans in secret, not even letting Sam know.  He suspects Sam would want to help, but he doesn’t want to put him in a situation where he’ll have to lie to his brother for weeks on end.  That doesn’t mean he doesn’t enlist support, but he carefully chooses whom to bring into his plans and when to do so.  

Jody and Donna are first on his list.  They’re more familiar with the holiday in general, and he seeks them out for help with gift suggestions as he’s unsure what would be a thoughtful or even an appropriate gift.  Through Donna’s help, he gets two tickets to see Hamilton for the younger Winchester.  For Dean, he tracks down an antique revolver with a matching holster, reminiscent of the Colt they had years ago.  

The next step is the food.  He meticulously researches traditional recipes, then narrows it down to the ones he thinks the brothers will most enjoy.  He decides on a Christmas ham and eggnog, while Jody promises to help with the side dishes.  For dessert there’s no choice other than pie, but picking _what kind_ of pie occupies a good deal of time.  Then he realizes that this is Dean Winchester he’s baking for, and there’s no such thing as too much pie.  He finds recipes for spiced cherry, apple mint, and pear with walnuts.

After mistakenly ending up on a calligraphy site, Castiel decides to send out hand-written invitations to his guests.  Sneaking the addresses from Sam’s laptop and Dean’s journal isn’t an easy task, but he manages it.  Jody and the girls.  Donna.  Garth and his family.  Eileen.  Krissy Chambers and her new hunter family.  All those he knows Sam and Dean would greatly appreciate seeing, he sends them an invitation.

The last part is trickiest and requires careful coordination.

On Christmas Eve, Garth arrives in town.  He calls up the boys and invites them out for drinks that afternoon.  As Dean talks to him on the phone, rolling his eyes even as he smiles fondly, Castiel can almost hear the rehearsed script Garth is following.

_ Heya Dean!  I’m on the way back from a case and realized I was only ‘bout an hour outside Lebanon.  Thought you guys might wanna meet and get a drink? _

“Course man, we’ll be there.”  Dean hangs up and explains it to them, already looking for his keys and coat.  

Castiel politely declines the invitation.  He cites a lingering cold, one that he’s been diligently faking for several days now.  

“It’s alright, we’ll tell Garth you said hi.”  Sam pats him on the back before heading to the garage.

And while Sam looks visibly disappointed, Dean seems totally crestfallen.  “You sure buddy?”

“I’m unfortunately not feeling up to it.”  And he sniffles and sneezes for added effect.  “Go and have fun with your friend.”

Dean lingers a little longer in the doorway before nodding in farewell and disappearing.  

Once they’re safely gone, Castiel puts on his coat and heads to his car.  He picks up Claire from the inn where they’re staying, dropping off the keys to the bunker with Jody.  The other guests leave en masse to help set up the new decorations and start making dinner.  

With Claire he drives to the Christmas tree lot he’s been scouting out for the past few weeks.  After they park, they march right up to the ten foot tree Castiel’s been eyeing.  

“Sure it’s not too big?  More tree means more time you gotta spend decorating—.”

“I’m sure,” he insists.  Claire doesn’t try to argue with him (if anything her eyes light up in amusement), though she does complain as they try to strap the tree to the hood of his car and then again when they try to maneuver it into the bunker.  

They arrive to find that everything’s been moved out of the war room.  The decorations are up and a space has been cleared for the tree.  It already looks spectacular, and Castiel looks forward to seeing the finished product.

Donna and the girls rummage through the tree decorations they all brought, arguing over which to use.  They go with white lights and silver tinsel on the tree, hanging the colored lights and green tinsel on the stair rail and entryway.  It takes five of them to get it all done, but soon there’s nothing left but to put the tree topper on.

“What’ll it be?”  Donna holds up a glowing star and an angel.  

Castiel reaches for the star, only to have Claire swat his hand away.  “Uh, no.”

“Why not?  It’s more in keeping with the star that lead the three wise men to the manger where—.”

“No no no,” Claire insists.  “You’re missing the point.  This is for Dean, right?”

“Yes…” he admits, not quite sure what that has to do with anything.

The teenager looks at him expectantly, as though the answer’s obvious.  When his confused silence stretches on, she huffs in annoyance.  “Dude’s dating an angel, right?  I think he’d definitely appreciate the humor in having an angel tree topper.”

It takes a moment for her words to register, but then he’s blushing and stuttering.  “I—Dean and I aren’t—. There’s nothing  _ romantic _ —.”

Claire rolls her eyes and puts her hands on her hips.  “Did you or did you not set up this whole Xmas shindig because of Dean?”

He turns to Donna for help, but she finds herself extremely busy untangling a section of lights.  Krissy and Alex are steadfastly not meeting his eyes, though it’s clear they’re listening intently.  

“There’s also Sam,” he deflects.  Claire glares at him and he shifts uncomfortably on his feet.  Eventually he grumbles out, “Yes, it’s for Dean.”

“Okay well, this is like the sweetest most romantic garbage I’ve ever heard of.”  When she sees Castiel’s indignant look, she concedes, “And I mean garbage in the nicest way possible.”

“... Thank you?”

“No problem.”  And with that, she plucks the angel out of the box and gets Alex to man the ladder.  

They’ve barely gotten the angel in place when Jody, Eileen, and Bess rush out from the kitchen.  Garth’s warned them that the boys are back, so they line up in the war room and wait patiently.  

The door opens loudly as the boys arrive with Garth in tow.  They’re talking animatedly about Garth hunting down a wendigo while being in full werewolf mode.  And then the talking stops.  They hear Sam gasp and Dean mutter something under his breath.  Slowly, they come into view, eyes wide as they take it all in.  The decorations, the tree with gifts underneath, the delicious smell of dinner wafting down the hallway, and their closest family and friends there with them.

Sam’s all smiles, but Dean starts to tear up.  

Immediately they break into happy chatter, wishing the boys a merry Christmas and, of course, putting the blame on Cas for the whole thing.  Ignoring them all, Castiel pulls Dean aside and lets them gush with Sam.

“I’m so sorry Dean.  I shouldn’t have…  I know you don’t like Christmas-”

“You did all this?”

He swallows and braces for a lecture.  “Yes.  Well, everyone helped, but I did organize it—.”

“You did all of this for me?”

Castiel hesitates.  All too clearly he remembers what Claire said earlier.  This is apparently a very romantic and decidedly  _ non- _ platonic gesture.  One that Dean may not be comfortable receiving.  But despite all of that, he can’t find it in himself to lie.  

“Yes,” he confesses.  “I did all of it for you.”

It stings a little when Dean laughs at that.  The other man looks helplessly at the ceiling as he blinks away a few tears.  Castiel’s alarmed at the response, almost ready to apologize, when Dean surges forward and wraps him in a big hug.  

Then it’s not a bone-crushing hug but a lip-smashing kiss that takes his breath away.  It’s salty and wet from Dean’s tears, but it’s  _ perfect _ .

The rest of the room erupts into cheers.  

“It’s a fucking Christmas miracle!” someone shouts.  Sam, most likely.

Castiel tries to pull away, but Dean holds him tight for one final, chaste little peck of his lips on Cas’.  Then Dean links their hands together and they join everyone else.

“Alright.  When do we start with the presents?”


End file.
